July 11/04 9:53 am - Tour Stage 8 (Brief), Canadian Olympic Team

Posted by Editor on 07/11/04

Tour de France

Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) took his second stage of the Tour today, in another rainy, crash-filled stage that ended with a bunch sprint. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Davitmon) jumped away on the long gradual uphill to the finish, but had McEwen on his wheel, so sat up in frustration with 500 metres to go. Just before the last corner, Fasa Bortolo's Kim Kirchen, the champion of Luxembourg, jumped away,also, opening a significant gap that looked to be enough to win, but Hushovd, showing incredible speed, came flying by in the final 30 metres to take the stage.

McEwen takes back the Points Jersey from O'Grady, who was 8th in the stage. Tomorrow is a rest day - we will announce the first weekly winner for our CC Tour Pool.

Canadian Olympic Cycling Squad

There is still no official word on who will be representing Canada in cycling at Athens (it is supposed to come tomorrow, but these things can, and are, frequently delayed). However, based on information we have pieced together from various sources, this is what it looks like the team will be:

Women's ITT - Lyne Bessette and Sue Palmer-Komar

Women's Road Race - Bessette, Palmer-Komar and Manon Jutras

Men's Road Race - Michael Barry, Gord Fraser, Eric Wohlberg

Women's MTB - Alison Sydor, Kiara Bisaro, Marie-Helene Premont

Men's MTB - Ryder Hesjedal, Seamus McGrath

Women's Sprint - Lori-Ann Muenzer

Women's 500M - Lori-Ann Muenzer

Most of these names are no surprise; the only one that has really been "on the bubble" is the third men's road slot - Charles Dionne or Eric Wohlberg? Dionne has had a number of strong results, including a stage win at Beauce, but so has Wohlberg - who rode in the break at the Nationals, which seems to have been the clincher. (Dionne spilled the beans on this one himself, when he talked with RDS (TSN French), complaining about having been left off the squad). There is also the chance that Wohlberg was picked because of the possibility of a men's ITT spot opening up, as it did in Sydney four years ago, when Wohlberg raced for Canada. Ontario gets the most spots with 5 riders (counting McGrath as Ontario, even though he now lives in Victoria), followed by Quebec and B.C. with three each, and Alberta with one (Muenzer).